The pioneering American robotics company that brought the Roomba into millions of homes has been sold to its Chinese contract manufacturer following a bankruptcy filing, marking another chapter in the decline of a once-dominant technology brand.
iRobot, founded in 1990 by three Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers, announced on December 14 that it had reached a restructuring agreement with Shenzhen Picea Robotics. The Chinese firm, already the company’s largest creditor, will convert its debt claims into 100 percent equity through a court-supervised bankruptcy process.
According to sources, the Massachusetts-based company filed for pre-packaged chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware, expecting to complete the restructuring by February. The transaction will make iRobot a wholly-owned subsidiary of Picea, with existing stock delisted from all exchanges and current shareholders receiving nothing.
Another Lina Khan special:
iRobot – maker of Roomba vacuums – just filed for bankruptcy.
Its leading competitors?
Two Chinese Roomba copycats that are now busy mapping your house.
In 2024, Khan’s FTC asked the EU to block the $AMZN acquisition of iRobot because she knew the… pic.twitter.com/f01XcRDvR2
— Compound248 💰 (@compound248) December 15, 2025
What makes this corporate collapse particularly notable is the role federal regulators played in blocking a previous lifeline. In 2023, the Federal Trade Commission under Chair Lina Khan moved to prevent Amazon from acquiring iRobot for $1.4 billion, citing antitrust concerns. The deal ultimately collapsed in January 2024, leaving iRobot adrift with mounting debt and intensifying competition from Chinese rivals.
The regulatory intervention mirrors the FTC’s approach to the JetBlue-Spirit Airlines merger, which Khan’s agency also blocked on consumer protection grounds. Spirit subsequently filed for bankruptcy in 2024, with its assets being liquidated.
Now Chinese manufacturers who once merely cloned Western products are buying the original brands themselves. Picea strategically positioned itself by purchasing $190.7 million of iRobot’s debt from investment firm Carlyle last month. Combined with $161.5 million in manufacturing costs already owed, this made Picea the vacuum maker’s dominant creditor and positioned it to take control through the bankruptcy process.
“By combining iRobot’s innovation, consumer-driven design, and research and development with Picea’s history of innovation, manufacturing, and technical expertise, we believe iRobot will be well-equipped to shape the next era of smart home robotics,” said Chief Executive Gary Cohen.
The acquisition follows a similar pattern seen with Segway, the American personal transportation company that was purchased in 2015 by Ninebot, a Chinese competitor that had previously copied its technology. These transactions allow Chinese manufacturers to transition from low-margin contract production to owning valuable Western brands with established consumer recognition.
Picea, founded in 2016 by engineers in a Shenzhen government-funded startup program, operates research and manufacturing facilities in China and Vietnam with over 7,000 employees. The company holds more than 1,300 intellectual property rights worldwide and has sold over 20 million robot vacuum units, making products for brands including Xiaomi, Haier, and Electrolux while also selling its own room-cleaning robot under the 3i brand.
iRobot launched the first Roomba in 2002, selling millions of units globally and establishing itself as the household name in automated cleaning. Its earlier robots had assisted U.S. military operations, searched the World Trade Center ruins after September 11, 2001, and monitored environmental disasters.
But revenue declined as the company faced intense competition from Chinese manufacturers who could produce similar products at lower costs. Data privacy concerns also emerged as these internet-connected devices map the interior layouts of homes while performing their cleaning tasks.
Industry analysts suggest the acquisition could reshape the competitive landscape in the global robot vacuum market, where iRobot still commands approximately 20 to 30 percent of the North American market.